Mortgage Bankers Association weekly index drops 0.2% as refinancings stall and purchases remain flat. NEW YORK (Reuters) -- Mortgage applications declined last week as refinancing dipped while purchase activity barely budged, an industry group said Wednesday.
The Mortgage Bankers Association said its seasonally adjusted index of mortgage applications dipped 0.2 percent to 671.0 in the week ended March 23.
The MBA's seasonally adjusted purchase index edged up 0.1 percent to 411.1 while refinancing applications index slipped 0.5 percent to 2,197.7.
Mortgage application levels are being scrutinized as the subprime mortgage crisis causes lenders to clamp down on loans to borrowers with weak credit.
There is growing concern that fallout from tighter lending practices will hurt consumers, homebuilders, lenders and the broader economy.
All three of the MBA's application measures were higher in terms of a four-week moving average, which smooths out volatility. The market index was up 1.7 percent to 676.3, the purchase index rose 0.6 percent to 410.3 and the refinancing index gained 2.9 percent to 2,238.2, according to the MBA.
Average 30-year fixed-rate mortgages, excluding fees, dropped 0.02 percentage point from the prior week to 6.04 percent, well below the 6.35 percent registered in the same week a year earlier.
Source: msnbc.com 3/7/06
